Lophin's Story: Book One: Burning Leaves
by DDVZ
Summary: This is an arc from my other Naruto fic which you'll sadly never get to see. It's about Naruto's instance in another dimension, Lophin. Extreme Violence, gore, and language. Comments are always welcome. Starting on Book Two: Sifting Sand.
1. Prologue

**Lophin's Story  
Book one: Burning Leaves**

**Prologue:**

A blood-curdling scream broke the dead of night. It was no scream of a banshee, nor a maiden, but rather a young boy who had been strapped to the monstrosity that was the electric chair for the seventeenth time that month.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Birth**

It was a crisp February morning, the coldest day yet that winter. This cold brought a very sickly, deathly feeling that hung stagnant in the air, as if all were fated to disintegrate right then and there. Suddenly, a bright shaft of light appeared, illuminating a small child. Curious villagers went to discover such a strange occurrence only to find a small child, with no mother in sight. This, they presumed, must be something truly divine, surely some sort of angel or deity. However, they could not be further from the truth; this child was no god, rather it was the exact opposite, a beast who's soul was believed to come from the very pits of hell. All fought for possession of this child, but even when they came near it, they were much to scared to so much as touch this supposedly divine figure. He was left there on the cold ground, a smile gracing his face.

Years passed...

He grew into a normal boy, nothing strange except his appearance. His teeth had become sharper, and gray; his eyes, once bespectacled, now with perfect vision; and his fingers had become thin and wiry. This they believed was all coincidence as many of these spectacular occurrences can, in fact, be found among humans. Even when his hair began to turn white at the age of twelve, no one had any second thoughts about it. All he was, was Lophin, a member of the village hidden in the leaf.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Rank**

Lophin was the most hopeless case of a ninja you could ever meet. His body could not produce chakra, no matter how hard he tried. He had horrible penmanship and as such had no future in scribing and sealing. Now there are only two categories left, iijutsu and taijutsu. His limbs for some reason assumed an almost fixed state and would adamantly refuse to follow the movements his brain and teachers suggested. It seemed there was no hope for the young pupil. The worst in his class, Lophin was not even in the Academy's sixth year but its second.

One day however, he discovered a guide to iijutsu. He read it and became consumed with its workings, memorizing all the body's statistics. He could even name every substance that was currently in any given person's body. This frightening talent and hobby of Lophin's was only just beginning though. He assumed the role of applying his knowledge, not to a test dummy, but any living thing he could find in the forest. In just a month his obsession possessed him to view the innards of every creature in Konoha's forest, the smells given off by the corpses rank and foul. Even here however he would not stop, he started to eat his unfortunate learning tools; memorizing their taste, touch, smell, and rate of use. His appearance had stayed the same, but people were becoming curious. This newfound loneliness pleased Lophin, as he was normally accustomed to being suffocated by either scowls of disapproval or, more often than not, a plead to bless a child. He was still viewed even now as a divine being. Sadly, this would all be crumbled within one night: a night when he would use the most ghastly demonstration of his medical knowledge yet...


	4. Chapter 3

**chapter 3: Split**

One day Lophin was wandering aimlessly, when he came upon a city in Snow Country. He had been walking for three weeks straight, feeling drawn to something here...and now he was going to find out what. He walked through the gates, marveling at the icy world around him. It was very similar to cities in Fire Country, he thought, same building design, same types of people, same emptiness. And yet it was not, this place had a peculiar feeling to it, a feeling of hopelessness: everyone here seemed like they would drop dead from the pressure of feeling useless.

As he was wandering the icy streets he came upon a fountain. An old man, who by the looks of his appearance, was either very powerful or very wealthy, was heating the water here. This man smiled at Lophin, greeting him as the stranger came near. Lophin sat down by the man and they started talking. It turns out that he was the Snow king's grandson, a very powerful figure indeed. As he was boasting about one of his heroic exploits, Lophin began to wonder about his wounds. 

"Do you need me to fix up your arm for you, sir?" Lophin asked.  
"No, it'll be all right; all it needs is a little time," came the reply. However, Lophin put the man's arm in a cast anyway. The young man, awed by his skill asked Lophin how he had managed to do that in all of thirteen minutes. Lophin then explained that he was an iijutsu expert from Leaf, occasionally telling fibs about his prowess. Somewhere along the line the prince, Yen, began to think that Lophin was an all-curist. He proceeded to lead Lophin all the way into the Snow Palace, eighteen miles away. 

Yen being an expert ninja only needed to stop once on his way, dragging Lophin along the ground. When they came to the palace, a fifty-foot obelisk of stone and iron with many towers and terraces, Yen finally stopped. But even this was only to procure permission for Lophin to enter. They walked into the king's chamber, where Lophin saw one of the most horrible sights he had ever seen. The king was lying there, bathed in bloody phlegm that he had continuously coughed up. One of his arms was missing and it seemed that his left lung was on the verge of caving. Lophin walked up, gawking at the scrawny creature.

"Well aren't you going to fix Grandpa?" Yen asked, with a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

"You don't understand, I can't do this sort of thing yet..." Lophin started to say. However, Yen kept persisting getting ever more angry with Lophin by the minute. Lophin decided that he would try. After one hour had passed, Lophin had actually worsened the king's condition, he had tried to fix stimuli in his brain and patch up the holes in his lungs with flesh from his remaining arm. However, this put so much stress on Yen's grandfather that he died mid-"surgery." 

Angry, Yen poured out insult after insult on Lophin. "You bastard, what the fuck did you think you were doing; if this is the best you can do, you must be the worst damn doctor in history! You're only good for murdering, you fucking demon!"

At the last remark, Lophin struck Yen, his hand firmly around Yen's skull. Then the sound of cracking bone was heard and Yen's eyes went dim. His now eternal expression of rage and surprise delved into the reaches of Lophin's soul, confusing him; splitting him. He stood there, the old feeling beginning to come back, rushing into his left arm, making it immobile. Yet, this was only in his left arm, at the sight of trickling blood something in his mind seemed to click into place. He finally knew that this is what he had come here for, he had been drawn to the stench of the now-dead king. He had come here to kill...

The act was so shameful, however, that he could not possibly finish his job. So, he took his free hand and cut a gash from each eye straight down to the base of his neck. The blood felt warm on his cold, lifeless body. He began to make another rut into his face, this time from ear to ear, straight across his nose. He proceeded to create apostrophe-like marks in each of his face's new hemispheres, finishing his job with a partial leaf swirl in the middle. He took out a scroll and spilled some of his blood onto it, activating the jutsu that gave him some chakra. This chakra he charged into his cuts, clotting the bleeding and turning them blue. With his mask complete, he was now able to free himself and do what he wished. For this was no longer Lophin on the outside but a completely opposite stranger.

Lophin crushed Yen's head, kicked him back into the air, and thrust his hand through the hole in his neck; ripping out Yen's spine. He sharpened his new weapon on a nearby stone bookshelf, grinning as he heard the sound of crunching bone. He ran out of the room scouring the palace for its attendants, impaling them all through the gut. When he was done, he expertly removed their eyes and crushed them on the front of the palace, inscribing his name.

Now that the excitement was over, and his adrenaline rush fading, he used the rest of his chakra to repair his wounds, including his mask, and started on the journey back to Konoha...


	5. Chapter 4

**chapter 4: The Wonders of Medicine**

Because Lophin was looking forward to getting back home, his pace increased and it only took him two weeks to get back. Once there he took the snow money he stole, converted it, and used it to buy twenty more chakra scrolls. As soon as he was in his safe apartment, he began his mission. He inscribed his mask onto his face once, more using the blood to activate every chakra scroll and the warp scroll he had placed on the floor. A warp scroll is a unique type of scroll that can transport someone between it and its counterpart, however they can be only used twice and are only for one person. He stepped onto the warp scroll and started doing hand signs...

Now back at the snow palace, in the main foyer, he was grateful that no one had cleaned up his mess. He ran through the halls killing all investigators with one hand enveloped in his newly obtained chakra. Once this minor annoyance was taken care of, he started collecting the bodies. These he placed in the foyer in one big heap. He began to do hand signs again, this time rubbing the blood of the deceased onto his palms. He used his chakra to rip apart the bodies piece by piece and rearrange them into a small lizard with one massive tail. He cut off the lizards tail and used his chakra to establish its heart beat, pouring into it the blood that had once stained its hands. It instantly came to life, and crawled up onto Lophin's shoulder. Now, Lophin thought, there is someone who will stay by my side forever no matter what I do. He had created for himself a pet, and it had only required about sixty dead humans. He dubbed his creation Yen, after the prince he had killed in the first sparks of his insanity...The awkward thing was that as he thought about it, he felt no remorse. Now he took the tail and used it to create a relatively small dragon. He simultaneously killed his innocent creation and gathered its blood in a jar. Finally, he repaired his face, and stepped back onto the warp scroll.

He ran down to the town's scribe, Habi. Habi was an old man, of about seventy. His white beard, wisped down, stopping at his gut. He was partially blind in one eye and hard of hearing, but he had the steadiest hands in all of Konoha. It took Habi a while to understand that Lophin wanted a custom-made summoning scroll; which Habi took to gladly, as he usually didn't get too many customers in the winter. Habi began to take out his paper, when Lophin stopped him, and asked Habi to tattoo it onto his arm. Confused, Habi just gazed at him. When he saw no change in Lophin's expression he sighed, retrieved his second stencil, and began to write. Lophin paid the satisfied worker and left the quaint little home, in which there was only a bed, a work desk, and a hearth.

Lophin went into the forest to try out his new skill. He bit his tongue and covered the seal with blood, using the last of his chakra to activate it. Simultaneously, the pale, green beast appeared. Contradictory to its fierce appearance, the dragon sat dormant, awaiting a command from its master. This, Lophin thought, was his chance. He would show everyone that he was no longer the worst ninja in existence, and punish all those who lost faith in him. At Lophin's command, the dragon was unleashed into the night; beginning its ravage across Konoha...


	6. Chapter 5 part 1

**chapter 5: Knocked into the Ground: part 1**

The flightless beast began its descent into Konoha, its black scales acting as camouflage in the night. This dragon was only a semi-dragon, a four-legged lindorm, and had no wings. This did not diminish its power or ferocity however, as it wormed its way through the dark streets; crushing any unlucky passersby in its mighty jaws. When the first wave of its attack on the eastern side was finished, it began raiding houses; ramming through their walls, the wood and concrete splintering effortlessly. The stunned victims could do not but gape at the sight of such a beast; its red eyes seeming to pierce into one's soul. Upon the sight of its prey it launched a blast of steam, which was so hot that it melted the flesh off of their bones. The advantage of steam over fire, was that they didn't have time to scream; the reaction was too fast. After raiding a few houses, it began to get restless and hungry.

It, unknowingly entering a house that was acting as a meeting place for an anbu squad, rammed its nearest victim into the wall, impaling it with its sharp, black horns, and then launching a blast of steam at his opponent. The others used this delay to their advantage and launched three dragon flame techniques simultaneously. However, they were too weak and the dragon merely swatted them away with its tail. It leaped on another ninja, ripping off its skin, and swallowing the human whole. Once again the ninja tried to mount an attack, this time with explosive tags, but this too failed as the dragon's hide was too strong. The monster claimed two more victims before they were able to send for help, which the kage answered relatively quickly.  
The current Hokage, Ballik, arrived, as the last eastern house was being demolished, this taking all of two minutes.

Ballik struck swift and strong attacks with his blade, expertly avoiding its tail and steam by chakra jumping. Ballik placed a wound into the dragon's tail, arousing its anger. It stopped, peering down at Ballik, challenging him to a competition. Then, it launched itself full force at the Hokage, clutching its arm in its mouth. This became the dragon's downfall, however, as although Ballik lost an arm, he gained a direct hit to the dragon's brain. The dragon fell limp and lifeless into the ground, red blood forming puddles on the street.

Furious at his creation's failure and his own inability to summon it again, Lophin rushed down to gain revenge. He rushed in with a punch to the face, and then a roundhouse kick. The Kage was cursing his own lack of attention as he swung at Lophin. Lophin ducked and performed a lotus into Ballik's chest, making his combatant spew blood. He then tried to follow up with a leg sweep, which Ballik leaped over and returned down, thrusting his sword into the summoning seal. Lophin screeched in pain and anger, his blood literally beginning to boil, and a sudden chakra rush building in his veins...


	7. Chapter 5 part 2

**chapter 5: Knocked into the Ground: part 2**

Ballik had Lophin pinned to the ground. Lophin had stopped screaming and even stopped struggling; he was not dead but he wouldn't move. Then Ballik noticed that the blood oozing from Lophin's wound was coming out in bubbles, meaning that it was literally boiling...He noticed that Lophin's veins were beginning to become more prominent and his chakra holes, normally completely blocked, were being forced open one by one. Then Lophin let out a yell, accompanied with such a force of chakra that Ballik was blown seven feet away. Lophin stood up, swaying a little with chakra encircling him. His veins became black, his eyes the equivalent of the summons. Strain was placed on all of Lophin's muscles, and from his fingers and toes burst claws, skin and blood spurting everywhere. His teeth grew into fangs and his white and brown hair turned completely white. Then he used his chakra to create a fist and hurled it at Ballik. The Hokage simply dodged this by leaping, but a chakra kick preceded Lophin's first attack. This he just barely dodged. Suddenly, he saw Lophin in the air above him readying two arms of chakra for a cross-slash. which was once again dodged. Then the unexpected happened...Lophin used his chakra to create a temporary platform and jumped off of it, soaring over Ballik and coming down with a double chakra fist maneuver. Lophin sprang off of his still clenched hands and used another chakra platform to catch Ballik off guard, and nail a punch across Ballik's chin. Ballik's feet once again left the air for an increased period of time, Ballik himself landing on Lophin's roundhouse kick. The defeated Ballik crumpled on the ground, whimpering at the frightful force, but this didn't last long as human flesh is only so elastic...

The rest of the anbu squads arrived just in time to see the fate of their leader. Enraged they charged in with a Metal Thunder Dragon jutsu. Every single attack missed, Lophin disappearing. They were about to leave when they noticed blood trickling about two ninja in the rear. They turned in time to see them split perfectly in half, blood forming massive puddles on the ground, organs all in perfect cross-sections...Then the responsible demon charged at a startled ninja, hitting him in the chest, his ribs shattering upon contact. Lophin pushed off of this into a few aerial spins, kneeing another anbu ninja in the neck, combining it with a deadly blow from behind to the skull on his return trip. Lophin began forming hand seals and shouted "Fire Style, Flamethrower Jutsu!" and instantly a flame burst from his outstretched hand, incinerating all who were still too rattled to form a chakra shield.

"Demon Jutsu, Metal Claws!"

Chakra compacted around Lophin's claws, making them pure steel. He then launched himself into the chests of two ninja, repeating his action until his hands met flesh. Only four ninja were left, and they were finally ready to combat this deadly new opponent. However, they were much too late...

Lophin used the rest of his birthright to launch two powerful chakra blasts at his opponents, knocking them into and through fifteen trees in Konoha's forest. Now thoroughly exhausted, Lophin collapsed and reverted to his normal form. All but his mask and summoning seal healing were removed. The mask he had to fix himself when he awoke the following morning, but the seal would not heal...

The villagers became wary of Lophin, even though the monstrosities they saw had no connection with Lophin's appearance or status in Konoha. Still they did recognize that he was gone during the whole period of the massacre and did not appear again until the following morning. This put Lophin in even an even more secluded state, something that Lophin was enjoying; well at least for now...


	8. Chapter 6

**chapter 6: The Average School Day**

Lophin woke up to the still foreign sound of silence. Nowadays most people distanced themselves from him, vexed with the decision of keeping their faith in him or not. This had pleased Lophin for a while, however, he was now getting extremely lonely.

Things at school were going a lot better so far. He had been able to jump all the way to the fifth and final year of the Ninja Academy in just three days, thanks to his newfound chakra. Although now that he was among his peers, his loneliness was only increased; for they wanted nothing to do with such a strange kid who was completely out of the social loop. He was driven into a deep depression, growing angry with his classmates for not even liking him. Today was a test day on Lophin's hardest subject, genjutsu. _"This is going to be horrible!"_ Lophin thought as he wandered his way to school.

At school:

Lophin your turn, his instructor commanded. Lophin stood up and walked slowly to the front of his class. He hated how he seemed to be the only one not getting the lesson. He began forming hand signs and focusing his chakra. Our protagonist tried his hardest to use a genjutsu on his teacher, but instead blasted chakra at him. Araiko Yama, the name of his teacher, got up and beat Lophin over the head for hurting him. He then proceeded to give Lophin a zero and told him to study tonight or he'd fail tomorrow's test as well.

_"Shit! Not again!!"_ Lophin screamed in his mind.

"Dude, I can't believe you still haven't learned this yet its so simple!" a classmate, Talon, said mockingly to Lophin. "We all mastered this the first day! You have got to be the worst ninja in the history of the world! I mean this is our twelfth test!!" Right now Lophin wanted nothing more than to silence the annoying chatter permanently, but decided against it as people would only ostracize him even more.

"Whatever, I'm still passing...," Lophin replied. "This whole thing doesn't matter anyway, I'll never need such stupid skills."

"That's what cowards and idiots say," a girl from a few seats down mocked.

Three hours later:

"Finally over!" Lophin exclaimed as they left the day's genjutsu lessons. Talon walked up to Lophin and hit him on the shoulder.

"Hey brat," he said, "Since you like to act so cool and aloof how about we spar a bit?"

"Don't cry when you lose," Lophin replied. Little did he know that Talon had the aid of the sharingan with him, making Talon a tough opponent. Lophin entered a sparring stance and Talon did the same. Lophin, who still couldn't trigger his other side, rushed at Talon with a powerful fist.

"Sharingan!" Talon shouted and evaded the attack, countering with a punch of his own. Lophin ducked under this and did a leg sweep, which Talon jumped over and afterwards easily hit Lophin over the head. Lophin started to roll backwards into a handspring, throwing a kunai as he went. Talon caught the weapon in one hand, let its force turn him around and gain speed, and hurled it back at Lophin. Lophin was hit in the chest. Ashamed Lophin collected himself, pulled out the kunai, and left for his apartment.


	9. Chapter 7 part 1

**Chapter 7: Rematch!: part 1.**

Lophin ran home, feeling so stupid for ever challenging Talon. _"I'm a demon!" _he thought_, "How could I lose to a simple boy? Where in the world does that make sense? I have to learn how to control it...That way I can prove to myself and everyone else how strong I really am!"_

Lophin entered the door to his apartment. He went into a kitchen and took out a well-sized knife. "_Last time it was triggered, I was in pain," _he thought_, " could it possibly work again?_" He began to stab his own arm, holding back the shrieks of pain. He kept stabbing again and again, the repetitive motion seemingly as endless as the wooden bird at the watering hole. Soon he had covered all of his body parts three times, a fourth of his kitchen floor permanently stained. "_Maybe its emotional pain_?" he wondered as he let his demon heal his wounds. He started thinking about how things had been and how they were now. This got him so angry that he punched his kitchen table, snapping it in half, and breaking his hand in the process. "That is enough!" he screamed. He began to focus his chakra to his body parts and let out wave after wave at his kitchen wall...

Lophin was running to the Anbu Headquarters. He arrived panting, and horribly wounded, from his retries. He demanded that the man at the information desk tell him where Talon lived. The man took one look at Lophin and thought that he must have been beaten by the best ninja in the sharingan bloodline and wanted a rematch...

"He's down by the lake, fishing," the man replied. Lophin resumed his heavy sprint this time in the opposite direction, heading west towards Lake Kaito. When he got there, he found Talon out in a boat fishing, just as the man had told Lophin. Lophin did a chakra leap onto and through the boat and upon resurfacing, challenged Talon to a rematch.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? You sank my boat!" Talon fumed. "That's it now you owe me. When I beat you again you have to pay me for property damage!"

"Whatever I just wanted to fight with you again," Lophin replied.


	10. Chapter 7 part 2

**chapter 7: Rematch!: part 2**

Lophin broke into a sprint and attempted to ram Talon, who jumped out of the way and activated his sharingan. Lophin slid into a 180-degree turn and through three kunai at Talon, who deflected them all with shuriken. Talon started doing hand signs, "Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"

Lophin caught each flaming shuriken, his hands bursting into flames, and his skin lopping off his bone because of it. Lophin lunged at Talon wildly, rage clearly seen in his gray eyes. Talon attempted to roll out of the way, but Lophin caught him at the last second, flame and metal biting into the student's flesh. "That's it!" Talon screamed, ripping out Lophin's hand and jumping back to safety.

Lophin's arms were beginning to look like candles at this point, making Talon nervous. _"How could someone bear that much pain?"_ he thought. Once again Lophin was the first to strike, this time with three shadow clones. Talon quickly disposed of two of them, as they attempted to surround him. He grabbed a kunai and threw it straight into the third's abdomen, blood trickling down. _"What it wasn't a clone?"_ he wondered, I thought he made three. He turned to leave, seeing as the wound dealt should have proved fatal...

Lophin let out a blood-curdling yell and burst straight through the third clone, blood gushing instead of smoke. "Idiot! That was a blood clone!" Lophin stabbed Talon in his stomach, but Talon disappeared. "No, genjutsu!" Talon said, as he narrowly evaded the airborne attack by Talon. Lophin tripped Talon and punted him into the water, leaping after his adversary. When Lophin came within three feet of his opponent, he noticed the hand signs.

"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" Instantly fire erupted from the youth's hands and enveloped Lophin. Lophin, however, wasn't responding to the pain by reverting into a demon, he just combusted like a normal person. Stunned and bewildered, Lophin fell prey to the taijutsu combo made by Talon. Lophin skidded across the water, sinking into its depths.

_"Now," _Lophin thought. He launched himself out of the water, rising twenty feet above its surface and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Demon Jutsu, Scream!" Lophin's mouth widened, splitting back into his skull, as chakra was gathered there. Talon lost face at this oncoming fright and tried to swim to shore; however, he never made it. The erupting sound wave caught him full blast and tore the lake to pieces, the water being splattered over a three-mile radius. Lophin fell to the ground, breaking his legs, from chakra exhaustion. Talon had put all of his chakra into a makeshift shield, the moment before it hit and was just as bad off. The two would-be ninja lay there for one hour, until investigators found them and they were transported to the hospital...


	11. Chapter 8

**chapter 8: The Unanswered Question**

The two academy students, Talon and Lophin, had just been rushed to the hospital after they were lifted up out of the giant crag. The sensible thing to assume would be that Talon did it, as he was heralded as the greatest academy student and sharingan user among even genin; however, the doctors felt that this was Lophin's doing, not because they saw the battle, but because they still thought of him as a demigod. The new kage, Ballik's son, Ballik II, had alerted the villagers about the terrible wrath he could bring. Ballik vowed to protect his citizens from the terror of this beast, which he among a solemn few, believed Lophin to be something far worse than a god. However, the new hokage never got a chance to put his plan into action.

Kaiser, the Fire country's daimyo, and Karin, his second in command, were rapidly closing in on the shinobi village. The frantic guardsmen, both from being in the presence of their emperor and from the sheer speed of their mares, opened the gate with trembling hands. The leaders went past the gate and all the way up to the main center of Konoha. Even here they did not dismount, instead dispatching one of the many guards to request an outside audience. Ballik came spontaneously, insisting on knowing the nature of what seemed to be such a superfluous and lengthy journey, as the capital of the Fire nation was near its southern tip in Kaiton. The two nobles gave him a mocking glance and merely requested to find their so-called god. Ballik, young and stubborn, adamantly refused until he was informed about their current whereabouts.

Kaiser dismounted from his horse and walked closer until he was a mere two inches away from Ballik. Kaiser picked up the ninja with one arm by his collar and again asked to see the divine creature. Now Ballik had no choice but to obey, for disobeying in this condition would jeopardize his life. They were led to the hospital's emergency room, where a group of static doctors stood. The medical prodigies had been too afraid to operate on Lophin, and it could be seen on all their faces. Kaiser parted them and stood next to Lophin, studying him and formulating his next move. He was not sure what Lophin was, but he was confident that he was very strong. 

"Karin, come here!" Kaiser commanded.  
"Reporting sir!"  
"Please confine this boy's body!"  
"Ninja Art, Mockery Jutsu," Karin had shouted after doing the appropriate hand signs. A layer of a thick, bright green viscous liquid had begun to envelop Lophin's body. It crawled forward until it encased even his head and then hardened into a stone casket. A guard came and received the coffin, as their bewildered audience pondered the events that had just graced them.

Five hours later Lophin woke up inside a stone box, with none of his wounds healed naturally or artificially. Pain began to arouse his anger, soon being replaced by desperity as he found himself encased in an unbreakable casket. After five powerful blasts of chakra, he gave up and lie there in the casket for the rest of the two hours.

Back in leaf Talon was awakening. He sat up and immediately put a hand to his throbbing temple. He wondered where he was at first, and then experienced nostalgia as the memories came flooding back to him. He remembered that final jutsu that Lophin did, how the flesh of Lophin's arms had lopped off of his bone like a piece of meat from a butcher's knife, piling into a liquid mess on the ground. Not giving the least bit of thought to the fact that Lophin was not in the bed beside him, he went to sleep and let the doctors finish their treatment.


	12. Chapter 9 part 1

**chapter 9: Prisoner: part 2**

Lophin awoke in a state of complete and utter blindness. As soon as he opened his eyes he felt a searing pain and could not see even his hand when placed squarely across his face. He began to probe his ocular area with his fingers. He started first at where their veins would start, circling while gradually closing in on his eyes. Soon he got to where his eyes would be and discovered that they were nonexistent; his eyes had been gouged out, the blood crusted on the inside of his new cavity. Even his eyelids, which he now inspected with great curiosity, surprise, and caution, felt rather dry and weak to his touch. After a few moments, they crumbled into powder in his hands; a white dust now sprinkling them, invisible to their owner. The pain he felt was not only from the slow degradation of his face, he discovered, but from the air reacting to the previously untouched eye sockets. He sat there, trying to weep but could not, as his tear ducts had already gone.

After what seemed a long while had passed, he stumbled up onto his feet and decided to explore his cell as well. He felt around it in a very circumspect manner, not letting anything out of his reach escape his knowledge. Lophin learned that his new prison was about three feet wide, four feet long, and more then eight feet tall. He guessed that his chamber must have an open ceiling as it had no openings on any of the sides and fresh air was constantly circulating in the room. Other than walls of thick granite and cement, there was nothing. Toilet, bed, food, water, these items did not grace his current location. On all sides the granite was rough and abrasive, more than usual. It seemed that someone had built the walls with sharp outcroppings every few centimeters or so, creating makeshift spikes. This meant that the only way Lophin could ever receive rest would be to curl up on the cold floor. Speaking of which, the temperature inside his cell was cold. Strangely enough, its attendant, moisture, did not accompany this abrupt temperature. His cell had become so cold that there was a thin layer of ice grazing all of the walls. But this ice was of the wall's substance itself, compacted even further, no water needed. This being the case one could not feel the ice, only the walls themselves. The beating in Lophin's chest was already slowing, even though his excitement and frightened awe at his living conditions had not ended. He curled up into a ball and lied on the floor, suddenly remembering the previous days with nostalgia. He remembered his fight with Talon and waking up inside an unbreakable box, as well as the people who released him from that casket, whom he believed to have put him in it as well.

All at once he remembered his chakra and tried to channel it into his hand, but nothing came. He felt along the rest of his body feeling a strange seal engraved into his skin. The seal that our protagonist bore is called the Absolute Seal, as its effects could not be altered. This design was tattooed all along his chest and its effects could not receive a counter release, they were much too powerful. The seal itself gradually dissimilates the wearer, starting with the most liquid, yet external portions of their body, namely the eyes. Once these are gone the seal converts all its attention at one point in the skin and burrows down through it. Once inside the body it dehydrates it further and breaks down the remaining substance. The latter part however, is extremely slow, so the seal converts part of its energy into enlarging the hole, so that the body may suffer natural degradation as well. Even so, the process can take up to twelve years, depending on the strength of ones body. There are no further variables than durability in this state of torture.

After another alleged eternity, he heard a creak at the top of the cell, and felt light warm his body. A man then jumped down into the hole, his descent lasting three minutes. Once he had retrieved Lophin he used his chakra to run back up the wall, afterwards presenting his success to Kaiser. Lophin was then dragged by his foot for a distance he measured to be ten feet. When they arrived at the testing compound, Lophin was strapped down onto an operating table.

Lophin could hear the sound of three medic ninja hovering above him, discussing about which test to start with. Then he felt a needle jab into his arm and inject a substance. Soon afterwards his body began to go numb, starting at the point of breach. Lophin's demon then surfaced in order to counter the deadly substance, however Lophin was still too weak and could do naught but fight the other fatal agents they began to fervently pump and inject into his body. His otherworldly power fought off this onslaught and healed all wounds they dealt to him, from bypasses, and cuts, to complex stitching and even removals. They were astonished at his fascinating ability to heal injuries and at even the renewed strength of his organs. They could only guess at what physical force Lophin could exert. Although they still wanted to play with their new toy, the doctors began their true experiments, fitting him with special weights and braces, with which his body would grow for the next three weeks. Each was capable of compacting the equivalent force of a car, and would restrain all other abilities for a week. Before Lophin was taken away, he was given one piece of cloth. The cloth was black and soft to touch, but very durable and could resist the parry of a sword. This Lophin tied around his eyes, in order to stop one of his constant pains.

Three weeks later:

Lophin had become desensitized to every common sensation. Even the deep anger and rage he normally felt when in his demon form were resisted. Each day he slept in his prison until he was to be returned for another complete physical examination, and each day he proved no weaker than the day before. Their stoic puppet had passed his examination and was going to be graduated to something much worse.


	13. Chapter 9 part 2

**Chapter 9: Prisoner: part 1**

Lophin's peaceful rest was disturbed as he was dropped out of the casket and onto the damp ground. He looked up at the black, ominous clouds, signaling that a thunderstorm would surely come. Below the clouds he saw a peaceful, beautiful city. Kaiton had many buildings all very homely and prosperous. Its most prominent buildings were awe-inspiring, as they towered over ninety stories high, chakra correcting any shifts in position from the building. Before Lophin could even begin to take in such a scene, a molten rod was pressed into his back. The searing pain made him stumble forward, from which position he was tripped. They began to bind his arms and legs, however, they didn't know the most important rule of thumb. The most dangerous beast is a caged beast. Lophin's chakra burst forth, incinerating his bindings and knocking away his offenders. They began to surround him, which Lophin thought was futile. Lophin had not undergone a full transformation, but had only formed claws and draconic eyes. It didn't matter though; for when Lophin was in his demon form, his knowledge of jutsus was automatically extended to the knowledge of the demon. His demon knew only three, which sadly is more than Lophin was ever able to learn or control. The ninja began to surround him.

Lophin spread out his arms and shouted, "Demon Jutsu, Prism!" Small beams of light shot forth from his claws, connecting into a ball in the center. Lophin charged at the first ninja, blocking his opponent's punch and countering with a kick to the face. Lophin's kick was also countered, but Lophin was counting on this. The demon used his adversary's hands as a mount and sprung off of his hands into an aerial spin. From there Lophin stabbed the king's guard with an open claw, stunning the guard and giving Lophin the opportunity to dig his other claw into the guard's lung.

"Chakra Conversion, Ninja Art Rasengan!" Instantly Lophin converted his Prism Jutsu into a Rasengan that burrowed into and through his opponent. Lophin lifted the man up onto his shoulders and shouted, "Rasengan Launch!" Lophin blasted the man to the right and then jumped the same way off of the ground, his heel catching his opponent under the chin. With his foot secured around his opponent's jaw, their descent began, the skin and tendons slowly breaking free from their usual positions. Lophin did not use any of his own muscle until just before the point of impact, where he smashed his adversary headfirst into another attacking ninja. The first ninja split the other one in two, bones splintering, organ's rupturing, and blood spewing onto the ground. Lophin fell into a roll due to his awkward landing stance, shifting into a back roll and then launched off of the ground, his body naturally assuming a front spiral position. However, Lophin had other plans. He converted to a back flip, completing one full rotation before his feet met flesh. Lophin's body descended because of inertia, and for one moment it seemed that time had stopped moving. Then Lophin gathered up his strength and pushed down, coming up towards this third ninja. He finished his combo with a double slash across and through the chest. During this time they had been struggling to hit Lophin with a jutsu, however our protagonist's movements were so unorthodox, that they were unable to. Now however, Lophin was struck by a needle to the shoulder. This wound automatically healed and was blasted from underneath Lophin's skin.

"That's enough of this foolishness." Kaiser calmly stated. "Demon Hunter Jutsu, Poison Needle, Paralysis Needle!" The two senbon held in Kaiser's hands changed, one a dark purple, the other gained an electric current. "A demon's heart moves at a rate of 40 beats per second when active. That means that either of these will kill you almost instantly. Even though you are a demon, if I halt your internal movement you will die eventually." Kaiser countered the blow from Lophin's fist and used his chakra to knock the demon away. The powerful ruler then stuck the two ends of the needles into each of his hands. "Chakra lock." Instantly, all of Kaiser's chakra was bound to his wrists. The obelisk began its attack on Lophin, swinging with a powerful, steady hand. Unlike his underlings, Kaiser was not overcome with fear at Lophin's ability. He had seen it many times and had learned specific counter jutsus from his grandfather, a professional demon bounty hunter.

Lophin hit the needle away, but it did not shatter because of the anti-demon jutsu used upon it. Lophin spun around and went for a direct hit anyway, which was batted away by Kaiser, causing Lophin to stumble once more. This time however instead of a molten rod cutting into his skin, a wave of electricity was sent through his body. This effectively stopped Lophin's heart and destroyed his nerve cells. Then Kaiser used an open fisted punch to stab Lophin again, and then used chakra to restart Lophin's heart. Lophin used the last of his own chakra to stop his own heart once more and to attempt to knock Kaiser away from him. However, Kaiser proved unwavering, being completely unaffected.

Kaiser then used his signature move. "Needle Release!" he shouted, the needles bursting from his hand and piercing through Lophin's body, shattering after impact from the ground, only to hit Lophin again as his body fell backwards in defeat. Black blood spewed forth in unbelievable amounts as Lophin's eyes weakened and failed him.

"Did you need to be so rough on the kid?" Karin asked. "I know you despise demons, but we did need one as a test subject and so far there aren't any other leads in any of the shinobi countries."

"Oh shit! you're right!" Kaiser said, regretting his own stupidity. The first hand signs since the battle began were formed, as demon and demon hunter abilities are special jutsus with requirements and as such need no hand signs. Demon hunter techniques can only be used when facing a demon, likewise demon jutsus can only be performed by demons. There are types to both, which are unnecessary to this specific story and as such will not be explained. "Healing Jutsu," Kaiser said as light began to surround the comatose, healing his wounds. Once they were done, Lophin was bound once more and taken to the central building. Kaiton was overcome with joy at his plan's completion. He now had a suitable weapon, with which Leaf would be almost unstoppable. An evil grin crossed Karin and Kaiser's faces as they daydreamed of their future status.


	14. Chapter 9 part 3

**Chapter 9: Prisoner: Part 3**

Lophin was subjected to even more tests, all much more painful than the previous ones he endured. Instead of just poking and prodding him, they began to burn, drown, and cause sever mental trauma. After just one day, anything left of the old Lophin had been released back into the atmosphere. Even so, he still hoped for escape, which is why he decided to store all of the chakra he had left in his blindfold at the end of each grueling day. However, in order to have any left at all he had to suffer the burn experiments, letting his flesh slowly decay. He had just finished a session now and had lain back down on the cold floor in his state of nudity. That is right, they took away his clothes and wouldn't even give him rags to wear; they deemed him impermeable and replaceable, and as such wasted no time on providing anything. Without sustenance his body withered quickly, the Absolute Seal working at an even faster rate. He closed his eyes and vainly tried to remember himself smiling. 

One month later:

Lophin had risen even from this status, giving them the need to create a whole new class. They had already proven his durability to almost all objects in the realm of the living, they needed no more data--they had not needed any more data after the first week, but the doctors liked to enjoy their toys. Lophin was promoted to the combat portion of his captivity. His trainer was none other than the ruthless Kaiser, who literally worked his body down to the bone each and every day. Kaiser was beginning to get cocky, and felt something close to pride in his alleged achievement. It was not every day that someone completely nullified a demon's will. Lophin's arena was adjacent to his cell and was literally kept at absolute zero temperature. This made every impact create at least one compound fracture, no matter how strong you were. It also meant that the jagged walls could not be cracked and were impregnable to chakra attacks. There was no escaping from Kaiser's suicides. In just a day Lophin had to start using up his chakra again, to prevent his body from becoming an example of symmetry. 

Kaiser's training did nothing to improve Lophin's skills; even Lophin's bones were fractured one too many times in order to come back any stronger. This grueling haul took its toll on Lophin; and during his experiences Lophin only gained two new skills, Kaiser's signature moves. To the average person this positive was inundating in a sea of negatives, but to Lophin it was his greatest advantage and only opportunity. Even though he had been forced to use up the chakra his body naturally replenished everyday; Lophin still had his headband.

As he lie in his inescapable prison, he mused over the sin's that would soon set him free. He opened his eyes, taking off the headband for his first time and letting the light flood his senses and envelop his entire body. Lophin incinerated his blindfold during the chakra conversion and burst out of the roof of the compound, his Absolute Seal glowing brightly. Lophin created his mask, despite the fact that his face had already become horribly malformed, and headed for his enemy's base, hopes high. He didn't even bother to use the door when he came upon it. Instead, he used the ramming method and launched himself straight through the wall and into the operating room.

Lophin had already done the hand signs as he shouted "Fire style, Liquid Flame!" He then shot out to gigantic chakra arms and wiped out half of the medical staff, ripping apart the ceiling in the climactic release of his long-suppressed rage. Then he took out two kunai from a medic's pocket and prepared to use his new moves. He stuck the ring-ends in the palms of his hands and charged forward. Lophin evaded the techniques unleashed upon him and dug the other ends of the kunai into two ninjas. The word turbulence emanated from Lophin's mouth as the kunai began to spin, increasing their speed until they were a steady blur. The new whirring menace ripped off the skin of Lophin's victims and twisted it as well as their bodies until they were reduced to ashes. The same thing happened to his own arms, however they were instantly healed as he began his second assault. Three more ninja met the same fight until Kaiser appeared near the scar in the ceiling. Lophin narrowly escaped the path of two attacks and used the release skill to launch his whirling weapons at the offender. Kaiser jumped down from the roof and dropkicked Lophin.

Lophin got up from the remains of the experiment apparatus and charged at Kaiser. Just before reaching his destination, Lophin twirled round, effectively throwing Kaiser off and dodging his prepared counter-attack. Then Lophin dug the two newly retrieved kunai into his adversary's chest, cutting out a pattern and then taking out one hand to perform a release maneuver into and through Kaiser's skull. Kaiser advanced towards Lophin, forming a chidori and attempting to plunge it into our protagonist. Lophin countered with his other kunai, threw the other kunai to his other hand, jumped back into a free-fall position, formed a platform with chakra, and dove into Kaiser's body. Kaiser just grabbed Lophin and threw him aside.

Kaiser opened his mouth and dug his hand into his mouth, ripping off his upper-skull. Within stood an exact replica of Lophin's own head, the way it would look without any wounds. Lophin stood stunned as his duplicate shouted, "It's used like this!" Kaiser was coming upon Lophin when the antagonist had said "Pendulum Jutsu." Kaiser's needles stood transfixed in the air, still spinning from the turbulence technique he previously cast. He proceeded to use his needles like razors, skinning Lophin with numerous short and swift swipes.

At this Lophin came back to his senses and pushed Kaiser away and into the ceiling. Lophin rolled backwards and then leg-swept his falling adversary into the far wall of the crumbling establishment. Lophin plugged two more kunai into his palms and said "Turbulence!" He used his chakra to increase the speed even more, so that there were sizeable flames contained in his hands. Lophin poured out the remainder of his chakra into his legs, increasing his speed. He assailed the recoiling Kaiser, lashing into his captor's body, running round him all the while. Then Lophin dropped down on the floor and slid under Kaiser, performing the pendulum skill. The kunai dragged along Kaiser's back as he fell to the floor. Lophin jumped up onto Kaiser and used the release skill to launch his projectiles. However, these Kaiser let hit his backhand. Kaiser rolled a full 360 degrees and slammed the kunai into Lophin's ribs.

Lophin stumbled backwards, marveling at the sight of his body degrading until he had wounds to match Kaiser. "Ninja Art, Reflection Jutsu: Cancel," Kaiser said as he got up, returning to his old form. "Once again, do it like this!" A previously unnoticed seal illuminated on Kaiser's shoulder as he finished Lophin off with a single slash.

Afterwards he dragged his deemed failure as well as all of his dead staff to the town dump, where he left them to rot for eternity. As Kaiser canceled his seal, he remembered when his grandfather had bestowed it to him. He pushed the thought away from his mind and returned to the ruined complex to plan his next move.


	15. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Rising from the Ashes 

Lophin was standing knee-deep in blood, rotting flesh, and discarded boxes and metal. The dump around him wreaked something powerful and its piles of trash reached as high as twenty feet into the air. Scaling down the rickety mountain cautiously, his feet eventually touched solid ground once more. He started on his walk back into Kaiton's marketplace. However, with his chakra exhausted, he had no way to traverse the road- block of rubble up ahead. Its walls were much more closely packed--and where they weren't, they were extremely unstable. Lophin sat upon the dry ground staring at the mammoth obstacle, wondering what to do next. He decided to go around it and ended up inside a forest a few miles away from Kaiton. It seemed whoever had built that alleged wall had been exasperatingly thorough in their work. In fact he only found a breach in the towering monolith when he was halfway through the forest, and even this it seemed had been guarded. Lophin quickly mounted a tree branch and waited till the opportune moment to rush his unsuspecting hindrances. After the guards were taken care of, Lophin began his long trek back into Kaiton. Upon his arrival, nothing had happened. No alarm had been sounded, no reinforcements alerted, no warning blared. This was something he was not accustomed to, and so he wandered aimlessly along its streets, pondering the reason for such an occurrence. It was then that he passed a pond and realized the reason. His whole face was disfigured from the as of yet unhealed wounds, providing a grotesque disguise. Under this guise, he browsed through every shop window and stand with a carefree attitude. He even stopped to steal a few kunai and some food; his movements had been too subtle to notice. With a long-empty stomach now full, Lophin sought a place to finally get some real sleep. He eventually chose a place on a back porch.

The first thing that graced his vision was the blessing of healed wounds. _"Wait! My wounds have healed! Shit!"_ Lophin thought to himself. _"I guess I have no choice but to leave now...Well perhaps after I pay Kaiser and his friends another visit."_

Stalking a cart carrying a delivery to the palace, Lophin eventually found himself at its gates. The palace was much like Snow's had been, without its present graphiti and torn down walls. Just seeing this gave Lophin flashbacks and got his blood boiling. "Fire Jutsu, Candle-wax," he whispered. Tiny flames enveloped his right hand's fingertips. Using the cover provided by burning cargo, Lophin invaded the palace through a window. He landed in a handstand so as to set the wood floor aflame as well. Lophin took a pot from one of the walls and placed it squarely over the flame, then began navigating the hallways. Each corridor seemed to take him to a dead-end, but finally he found what he was looking for, a leader's office. Perusing the plaque, he discovered that he had made his way into Karin's chamber. Instead of stopping and doing something dumb and perverse, he searched through the files on her desk, being careful to only use his left hand. Eventually he discovered his own file, and in context the vile deed his adversaries were planning. He put the file in his pocket along with a few record files and once again roamed the halls, this time in search of a specific goal, Kaiser's meeting room. After about thirty tries, he came across what he was searching for.

Lophin picked up a loudspeaker and used a great quantity of chakra to distort his voice. "All troops assemble behind the palace!" Lophin ordered in Kaiser's booming tone. He heard the sound of the pot cracking and jumped out the window into a crowd of disgruntled soldiers. The surprised men of valor and chivalry panicked from seeing a presumed to be dead man falling from thirty feet in the sky towards them. Upon landing, Lophin used the rest of his chakra in a powerful fire ninjutsu.

"Chakra Conversion, Fire Style, Magma!" was heard as Lophin pulled his hand upward from the ground in a motion mimicking that of a scythe. Shortly following his hand came a wave of molten rock, burning many of the unsuspecting militants. Lophin ran directly through the remaining ninja and ran a straight course northwest to his village.

The bewildered people knew not how to report the situation to the other half of the army that had just checked on the billowing smoke coming from a front room in the palace. They were unable to put out the flames as they knew little water jutsu and so the palace was razed to the ground, anyone foolish enough to remain perishing in the fire. Eyes blazing with hatred, Kaiser had arrived to a scene of wreck and ruin where his mighty fortress had once stood. He focused his chakra in his eyes. "Foresight!" he shouted. His eyes were flooded with a vision of every occurrence since that morning. "He's still alive! We must set out now and get after him, after this he will have no chakra left! We cannot let such shame befall us!" Kaiton's fastest ninja, including Karin, left in Lophin's pursuit, while Kaiser remained to muse over his next move. Lophin had indeed played a powerful hand, despite his own efforts. Left without a headquarters, a home, nor a development lab, Kaiser ordered his men to pitch their tents; they would be sleeping around the smoldering ashes that night. Kaiser could not sleep; his mind was filled to the brim with exciting visions of him securing his goal. Lophin had taken his turn; now Kaiser would just have to bring something better to the card table if his plans were to remain constant...

_Mirror: Leaf_

Talon had experienced a full recovery one week after Lophin had been captured and had assumed his spot as star student of the village once more. He passed the genin exams with flying colors and was given their best jounin as a private tutor, in addition to a team sensei. His private tutor's name was Ahime, a strict general who was very knowledgeable in the realm of taijutsu. His team's instructor, Ahime's son Jion, was comparable to his father, but excelled in ninjutsu more than taijutsu. Even Talon's teammates had been handpicked, as he had been given the second two best graduates, Feyn and Tir. Feyn was an acknowledged and renowned swordsman, whereas Tir was best at genjutsu. Feyn was a boy who had been held back in the academy for one year because he had studied his sword techniques more than his assignments. Tir was a beautiful girl whose family consisted of a long line of torture specialists, all leaving their victim at least partially broken.

The top-notch training Talon had received furthered his skills to the point where entrance into the chuunin exams was already being considered. Feyn and Tir had also shown amazing growth, their strengths almost art forms because of their swiftness deadly precision. Jion was beginning to get cocky of his first team, and began to brag about their abilities. Jion was constantly being chided by his father for showing such blatant arrogance, claiming that it would be his downfall. Jion paid no heed and died in a violent occurrence outside a bar after bragging about his team to another teacher. Ahime became Talon's team's new sensei, a morose cloud hanging over them all and hindering their work.


	16. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Greetings Suck**

Lophin could be seen near the outskirts of Konoha. He had sprinted the one hundred miles without stopping, using what chakra he was able to regain to restore his strength every few hours or so. He didn't stop until he was on his old bed. Sleep overtook him, and he was out for hours.

Sunlight could be seen reflecting off of Lophin's white hair, the brown in the middle glimmering with his divinity. Even though Lophin was sure that he had secured enough distance between himself and the approaching army, Lophin still didn't feel safe in Fire Country, especially in Konoha.

Lophin's luck ran dry once again. The clouds had taken their turn in the sky, blocking out the sun and producing an ugly gray. Freezing rain began to fall from the sky, in mighty barrages of hail-like force. Even under these conditions, Lophin was unable to leave the village without encountering his rival one last time.

It had been a slow day for Talon. His team was still shaken by its latest grievance, and their training sessions had lost much of their fabled grandeur. Still, Ahime had assembled them that morning to practice and spar with each other. Their training had just ended, and Talon had been left to himself in the middle of Konoha Forest. Once he saw Lophin, however, a smile crossed his face once again. He seized the opportunity to tackle the ninja and challenge him to a long-awaited and much-needed battle. Talon had still been sore about the loss of his perfect record from last time, and was determined to null the loss. "Where have you been, freak? You scared about my progress? You scared that I'm better than you now? Eh? Eh? Well I'm here to prove your suspicions and settle our score, you little pest!"

"Get out of my way! There's no time for this! If I stop now they'll surely catch up to me!"

"Well, I'm sorry but I'll have to press it upon you, you brat. You do look unnervingly thin and tired, but it doesn't matter, as you've always been good at hiding your strength. If you want to cross through this gate, you'll have to get through me first!"

"Fair enough, just know that I'm better than I was before as well, and that you'll surely be decimated this time. I'm not going to leave a drop of blood for them to identify your corpse with!"

Lophin began the battle in his trademark way, by charging straight for his opponent, intent upon subduing them as quickly as humanly possible or otherwise. Talon leaped into the air and onto Lophin's back, pushing Lophin into the ground as Talon continued his game of leapfrog. Talon turned around and took out to kunai, and ran at Lophin, sliding on the ground to get a good vantage point. Lophin, who was taken unaware by that attack, dodged the slash for his ankle by jumping into the air. Talon then gripped the ground and hurled his body upward with all his might, sending him crashing into Lophin. Lophin grabbed Talon by the waist and used chakra to bring them into inertia and then to hurtle them both down into the ground. Talon's head threatened to burst from the force of the blow, as Lophin regained composure and began to inhale.

"Demon Jutsu," Lophin whispered, "SCREAM!" From Lophin's diaphragm emitted a sound that crushed the walls of the houses around them and sent Talon through the gate, breaking it off its giant and numerous hinges. Talon quickly performed a substitution with one of the guards, the unlucky one meeting an untimely fate. Talon threw three kunai at Lophin, all missing their mark. Then, as Lophin prepared to drop kick Talon, Talon pulled back on a now clearly visible string that connected the kunai knives. The last kunai ripped its way into Lophin's ribcage and then was pulled out, causing Lophin to spin like a top till his impact with the ground. Talon took out a sword and began doing hand signs.

"Fire style, Grand Fireball Jutsu!" A fireball bigger than the surrounding houses was formed and was steadily hurtling toward Lophin. Lophin merely put out one hand and held the blast back, preparing to destroy it. Just then, Talon jumped through the mass of flame and slashed at Lophin, cutting Lophin on the neck. Blood began to flow through this wound as well; Lophin refused to take more of this pain.

As Talon attempted to hit Lophin with a flurry of slashes, Lophin simply fell forward into a handstand and pushed off of his hand into a double kick. Talon's chest took the blow full on and the bystanders, watching from the mock-safety of their homes, could hear his ribs crack from the pressure. The sword dropped out of Talon's hand after three more blows to the head in succession to the previous attack.

"Sharingan!" Talon screamed and narrowly dodged Lophin's next series of punches. When Talon had finally reached a safe distance he grabbed the remaining guard and disarmed him, taking away the guard's sword. Lophin assumed a stance and then lunged at Lophin. One could hear the friction in the air as Talon's sword zipped past Lophin, a hair's breadth away from touching skin. Lophin countered with a roundhouse kick to Talon's now open back, which was also countered by a sword slash. Lophin jumped off of the sword into a back flip, rolling into a lunge stance. Lophin took out a kunai and did just what his stance was designed for, the metal rending a piece of flesh from Talon's leg.

Talon screamed out in pain and anger, dropping to the ground so that he was on one knee. Talon countered Lophin's blows with the sword, struggling to keep Lophin occupied until the jutsu was ready. Talon amassed all of his chakra and then let the last of Lophin's kunai hit his arm; Talon held it there. Using this standpoint Talon produced his trump card, a powerful genjutsu Tir had shown him.

"Chamber of the Forsaken!" The genjutsu traveled through the air, coming from Talon's eyes and going into Lophin's. The world around Lophin went black and a single slab of stone appeared. Lophin's body hurtled into this and was strapped down to it. The emaciated and now subdued demon was then taken apart limb by limb. After this the slab fell through the invisible floor into a never-ending sea of lava.

Lophin was able to free himself by throwing his body backwards, surprising Talon. No one had been able to resist his technique before! Taking advantage of his stunned rival, Lophin ripped the sword out of Talon's hand and pierced Talon's left lung, inscribing a giant "L" in the prodigy's flesh. Clearly the victor, Lophin continued along his previous path, heading northeast for Cloud Country.

Lophin had been correct in his assumption before: he hadn't been able to waste any time at all. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was already within audible range of the massive army sent by Kaiser himself. They caught up to Lophin as he neared the mountain pass at the edge of the forest. Luckily, they passed Lophin, who had taken the precaution of hiding in a tree on the perimeter of the forest. As he watched the ninja go over the mountain, he dismounted and turned to head northwest for the Village Hidden in the Sand.

When he had finally reached the Fire Country border, an old man approached him. Dressed in sand garb, the ninja proved very convincing. Taking the bait, Lophin let the enemy lure him into a nearby enclosure. With trees on one side and a weathered road on the other, the old man turned to Lophin. Suddenly walls were raised along the road and the perimeter of the enclosure, leaving the forest as the only opening. The ninja removed his cloak and a swarm of white rabbits was produced. The second division of Kaiser's army used substitution jutsus to hasten transportation greatly. Then the original ninja removed his face as well, revealing someone who Lophin had gotten sick of running into.

Lophin took out his weapons and threw them over his offenders, the appearance of death itself raining on them when the few weapons were multiplied with clones. Using this as a cover, Kaiser rushed in to attack Lophin. Dodging the attacks nimbly, Lophin was able to gather a few weapons from the fallen ninja. Lophin then proceeded to use Kaiser's attacks against his own army, soon clearing the battlefield. Lophin had only needed to attack a few of the ninja and now where there had been fifty-three, there was one. Lophin took out a stolen sword and--after evading yet another punch from Kaiser-- shoved it into his remaining opponent. The battle had begun...


	17. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Lophin vs. Kaiser 

His sword struck diagonally upright. Lophin came down along the same route, minus a few degrees. He followed the sword's natural course into a full spin and a horizontal slash. From this he did an inverted slash diagonally upright, breaking the blade off in Kaiser.

"Idiot, your sword's useless now!" However, the swordsman still completed his dodge spin jump and charged it into Kaiser's ribcage, afterwards breaking the sword once more along the hilt with his hand. He smashed the hilt into Kaiser's face, letting the skull splinter, the nose rupture, and the eyes drown in blood. The same wounds appeared on Lophin's own person, as Kaiser attempted a counter punch. This too was dodged with a jump away; however, Kaiser achieved a direct hit to the demon's chest with a Chidori.

This did not stop Lophin, who quickly regained composure and evaded his ensuing combo. The knee, which would start his pursuer's next combo, did make contact with his abdomen, and Lophin then received a double fist across the face, flying away and crashing into the ground. Upon impact Lophin's body bounced and continued its roll until it came to rest with a broken neck and a shattered skull. The villain closed in with a spinning slide into a roundhouse kick, grabbing Lophin's hand as he flung away and using the natural force as a counter weight with which to try and rip it off.

Lophin effectively pulled away, leaving his arm attached but fleshless. He then punched the stunned emperor so hard that his fist exploded and his elbow broke from the recoil. Lophin returned his right arm's attack with his left's uppercut and then another right arm smash. This time Kaiser avoided the blow and ripped off Lophin's weakened forearm. However with shoulder still attached Lophin kick-jumped off of Kaiser and returned the favor with a Rasengan.

Lophin began to gather chakra in the shape of his arm and feigned another charge attack, rolling just before and screaming the words, "Chakra Conversion, Fire Style, Flamethrower!" His chakra arm erupted into flames and successfully melted most of his adversary's skin. Kaiser caught Lophin unaware with a downward double-fist strike, proceeding with an upper one to knock his opponent in the air. Kaiser did a roundhouse kick to toss Lophin like a rag doll and higher into the air, kicking him again upon Lophin's return trip.

Lophin was now again the body bouncing in the distance.

Our protagonist recovered using a back roll while performing hand-signs. However, when he was upright once more his jutsu was erupted and Lophin had to use his left arm to block Kaiser's chakra blast. While in the blast's shadow, Kaiser used his reflection ability so that he would recover most of his wounds, in turn his real body losing both layers of its skin. This blast also repaired the summoning seal on Lophin's left arm, letting him reclaim access to his experimental dragon lost long ago. He revived the beast and then thrust his arm into its skin, letting his chakra bind their life forces. Lophin's arm became the body of the dragon without limbs or wings. Lophin began to crush his adversary in between its jaws.

The battle looked in favor of our hero, until Kaiser used most of his remaining chakra to use his reflection ability once more, peeling away everything until the real Kaiser was only bone. Kaiser used his own dragon arm to pull Lophin's head up, so that his opponent's spine was actually lifted from inside the combatant's body. Lophin let his arm revert back to chakra and used most of it to heal this wound. Afterwards, he put the rest of it into shaping the dragon's life force into wings on his back. Lophin leap kicked Kaiser, knocking the man backwards. Lophin then flew forward and secured both of his feet around Kaiser's neck, spinning and flailing the body onto the ground repeatedly until the leg-lock loosed.

After he had recovered, Kaiser grabbed Lophin's now normal left arm with his own dragon one, attempting to rip off another limb. Instead, Lophin charged his dragon's remaining life force into his left arm until it exploded, taking Kaiser's along with it. Kaiser used the recoil to use his reflection jutsu once more, becoming nothing but bone marrow. Then he increased the power to his seal and used his emergency jutsu while throwing a kunai into and through Lophin's heart.

Lophin flew over to his enemy and flipped him over onto his stomach using only one foot, and then chakra stomped onto Kaiser's back. _"I will not lose!"_ he screamed to himself."Reflection Seal Level 2 Jutsu, Cloning!" Kaiser's body now actually became an exact replica of Lophin's, wounds that he couldn't heal included--Kaiser healed all of his wounds except for the gashes. Their one difference was that Lophin was out of chakra, whereas Kaiser still had some to spare. Kaiser flipped around and kicked Lophin away while using his own head to lift himself up off of the ground.

Kaiser's sight was already beginning to become affected due to blood loss. "_I will have to finish this then," _Kaiser told himself. "Acupuncture!" Simultaneously needles formed out of chakra began burrowing into every viable square inch on his body. "Inverted Pendulum!" Instead of suspending like normally, the needles became enveloped in a chakra shield that would prevent the user from being harmed by the needle's rotations. "Turbulence!" The needles on Kaiser began to spin with Kaiser himself pouring chakra into them until the metal melted and gave way to white-hot flame.

The antagonist could feel his surroundings take on a tilting motion as he started his wild charge, screaming his battle cry at the top of his lungs. Lophin had no way to guard against an attack and so felt the needles breach his dermis as Kaiser literally hugged him. "Try getting away now! Porcupine!" The last move Kaiser would ever make shifted all the needle's positions until they were aimed directly at Lophin and then released them. Lophin yanked off his body parts from his now deceased enemy and tried in vain to dodge the needles. He succeeded in evading the first few. However, every time he was able to avoid four or five of them a needle hit him. He was then hit by a succession of approximately twenty needles, making it harder and harder to recover after each blow.

Eventually the plague of needles dissipated and Lophin was left lying across Kaiser's corpse.

After hearing the news, Karin arrived to clarify it as well as pilfer any lost items. Along with a dead Kaiser, she discovered a trail of blood leading into the nearby forest. Assuming that Lophin had already died, she stooped down to transfer Kaiser's seal onto her body.

"Don't be such a bitch," she heard as the needles were jabbed through her neck and skull.

Lophin ripped off the seal himself as a trophy and then headed back towards Konoha in complete silence.


	18. comment season1

Well that's it for season one!  
I hoped you liked the last two battles. Kaiser is done for.  
Please comment on this story! It would be much appreciated.  
Well I'm off to finish the rest of my homework, and to study for finals. 


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